LOOKING BACK ( SOPHIE KURYS IN WOMEN'S BASEBALL)
by Lori Brown
The first day of May 1943, I was invited to go to a tryout by the president of the new baseball league for women, Phil Wrigley. I couldn't believe I actually had the chance to play baseball. I am not talking about softball that all girls can play, but baseball like the men play. In thinking back to how I was able to make it here in the first place, I see that the events were amazing.
The first information on women in baseball came from a letter by Annie Glidden, a Vassar College student. She said in that letter from 1866, that the college was starting to let girls play in the new clubs for outdoor exercise. She was in the baseball club and was excited to play against another college. The next couple of years brought new teams for college girls to play baseball. In 1867, the New York Knickerbockers started "Ladies Day" for women on Thursday nights.
In 1883, The New York Clipper advertised a woman's baseball league by advertising the "Young Ladies Baseball Club" with "nine brunettes" and "nine blondes." I got the idea that these teams were for show more than for the athletic ability. In 1890 though, a real woman's baseball team played against the Danville, Illinois Browns. Can you believe that these players were arrested for playing on a Sunday? I guess the early women's teams did not get off to such a good start.
In 1905, Amanda Clement became the first woman to be an umpire for semi-pro teams. Though she did not play the sport, she was definitely doing her job in making a way for women in baseball. I just sit and think about the criticism and the hard times these women had to face in order for me to get to this place. The women that followed Amanda were all known and remembered for the things they did for baseball.
Some of the famous women I have heard about are Lizzie Murphy, Vernie Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and Frances "Sonny" Dunlap. All these women did many things for the game of baseball for women. I would like to tell you about playing baseball and the life I had to live.
When I arrived in Chicago it was raining. Everyone told me I was going to do fine, but I was sad. The rain made it all worse. I had been reading about all the other women in baseball before me hoping their stories would encourage me. I did not know I would miss my home so much. My family was not allowed to come with me and neither were any of my friends. I was all alone with a chance at making one of four teams. These four teams were the Rockford Peaches, Racine Belles, South Bend Blue Sox, and Kenosha Comets. There were so many girls there and I was only seventeen. How was I supposed to compete with all of them? To top it all off, only fifteen girls were going to be on each team.
All throughout the week, girls were getting cut from the teams. They were going home and leaving me. I was both excited and scared at the same time. I kept thinking I would be cut from the teams, but I never did see my name on a list until the last day of tryouts. I went up to look at the lists for the girls who made the teams and for those who were cut from the teams. I MADE THE TEAM. I was on the Racine Belles. Maybe baseball was not so bad after all.
I did not know all there was to know about women in baseball until after I made the team. I had read the stories of the women before me in the sport, but none of those stories included the things I had to experience. We all got up at dawn and worked long days on the game. We had many drills, practices, and bruises. I would get so worn out by the end of the day and then, the coaches would say, "All right. It is time to go to beauty school." Yes, beauty school! I hated doing this type of training. We had to get all dressed up and learn how to walk properly, carry on conversations, and show proper etiquette. Although I was here to play baseball, I also had to impress the crowds in order to get some fans to come to the games.
Another shock I received, was the uniform. We had to wear skirts. They were "sporty" looking, but skirts all the same. I always liked to steal bases, but these skirts made it very painful. I always had the biggest bruises on my legs. We also had to have a chaperone everywhere we went. These chaperones did not know anything about baseball and they followed us everywhere making comments about our behavior and our playing styles. We were not even allowed to visit with friends without our chaperones. I had some friends that would come to watch me play. I went to eat lunch with one of them before the game and my chaperone brought me back to the room I was supposed to be in. I could not believe it!
Well, those are some of the bad parts about women's baseball. I did have fun though, when I could just play the game. The first year, there were only four teams. Over the next three years, many more teams were added. We even played championship games. The game I remember most was the championship game against the Rockford Peaches. We were tied at the end of the twelfth inning. I was playing second base as always and was getting very tired. I had made many good plays on the field to save our tie score, but was unable to score to help our team get ahead. Then came the fourteenth inning.
I got a base hit and was ready to do my regular routine of stealing bases. I was able to steal second as always and was even looking to stealing third base on the next pitch. I was on my way to third, when Betty Trezza got a hit into the right field. I cleared third and was heading for home when I saw the throw that could possibly get me "out." I slid into home concentrating only on making it across the plate before the tag. I was safe! We won the game on that run and I will never forget that thrill!
That was one of the most exciting parts of my career in baseball. I ended my career with 201 stolen bases which is a record that no one else could break. The crowds and newspapers would call me "Tina Cob" because of my abilities, but they never referred to me as a woman. None of the women in baseball were referred to as women. I think the people were not able to experience women baseball players for a long enough time in order to call us women. The leagues ended in 1954, because there was not a demand for our teams. The mangers decided it was a waste of time and money to continue the leagues, especially since the men's teams did not suffer that much during the war. Many of us women get together for reunions and talk about the days that we could play in our own league, but we are all proud of the lives we have lived. I went into business and had a very happy life even though I was not able to play baseball in the league anymore. Besides, we have a song written about us that is still sung today.
This story of Sophie Kurys is a fictional story based on the facts of the history of women in baseball. She is a real character and her accomplishments are true. The names of the teams and the players mentioned are also true. I did some research to find out about the requirements of the girls on the teams. They really did go to beauty school for the reasons listed. The chaperones existed and fit the description I gave in the story. Many of the narrative parts of the story are fiction, but are added to make the story more complete.
I would use this story when talking about history in general. The topic of women in baseball does not usually strike the students as having anything to do with history. I would use this story to gain their interest in history and to show that not all history is boring, if the students seem to think it is.
QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE STORY
- What kind of uniforms did the girls have to wear?
- When was the last year for the league of woman's baseball?
- How do you think the women felt when their league was ended?
- If you were Sophie Kurys, what would you say to a girl who wanted to play professional baseball?
- Describe the feelings of Sophie Kurys about her chaperones.
AUTHOR- Lori Brown
TITLE-LOOKING BACK (SOPHIE KURYS IN WOMEN'S BASEBALL)
OUTLINE OF STORY
A. First day of tryouts
B. Thinking back
- Annie Glidden
- 1866 starts baseball for women
- "Young Ladies baseball Club"
- Illinois Browns
- 1905, Amanda Clement
- Famous women
C. Tryouts
- Chicago and rain
- Four teams
- Cuts from teams
- Made the Racine Belles
D. Life in Baseball
- Long days and beauty school
- Uniforms
- Add teams to league
E. Highlight of Career
1. Championship game
2. Win
F. Memories and Distinctives
- 201 stolen bases
- "Tina Cobb"
G. End of Dream
- 1954, the leagues ended
- Life after baseball
- Business career
- Get together with old players
SUGGESTIONS FOR PROPS
- Wear a baseball cap and bring a bat.
- Have the song "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" playing in the background.
- Look for pictures from the library or from the Internet to display on a bulletin board from the women's baseball league.
- Watch the video, "A League of Their Own" after telling the story.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
- The girls had to wear "sporty" skirts.
- The last year for the leagues was 1954.
- The women would have felt sad, lonely, cheated, left out, forgotten, and any other word with these same feelings.
- Sophie would probably say that she loved the sport and would encourage the girl to pursue her dream.
- Sophie did not like having chaperones and wanted to be able to visit friends. She thought they did not know anything about baseball and resented their presence.
CITATIONS
- Http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/women/tmottbg.html
- Http://www.dlcwest.com/~smudge/belles.html
- Ideas from the movie "A League of Their Own."
EXTENTIONS
- Have the sudents come up with their own baseball leagues in the classroom.
- Have the students research the history of men's baseball and draw comparisons and contrasts between the history of men and women in baseball.
- Have the students ask their grandparents if they went to any baseball games for women or if they know any personal information.